THE GOD OF WOW

"The God of Wow" Words and music by Dave Fournier and George Romanacce. © 2015 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)/Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). From The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New. All rights reserved. Administrated worldwide at CapitolCMGPublishing.com, excluding the UK which is adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family. CCLI #7053016
Sung by Benjamin Hoppe

Lyrics:
VERSE 1
You have no birthday, You have always been
You alone have no beginning
And no middle and no end
You're always with me, You are everywhere
In New Jersey or in Egypt
Even outer space–You're there
Everything You are and do
Is unbelievable but true

CHORUS
You're the God of Wow!
Amazing! How could this be?
You're the God of Whoa!
You're more than I could ever, ever dream
The more I learn about You
Exclamation points abound
To the God of Wow!

VERSE 2
You're never needy, how could You be?
You made everything on Earth
And in the sky and in the sea
You're never lonely, the Trinity!
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Yet You're reaching out to me
Inviting me to come to You
Inconceivable, but true!

BRIDGE
I can't find the words that could be
Big enough, loud enough
There could be no song that I could
Sing enough or shout enough
When I want to praise Your name
But don't know how I just say
Wow! Amazing! How could this be?
And I say Whoa! You're more
Than I could ever, ever dream

TAG
Designer of the dinosaurs
Mapper of the ocean floor
Of all the wows below, above
The best of all is Your great love
You're the God of Wow!

The Ology a companion to The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New, a storybook theology by Marty Machowski. More info here: http://stores.newgrowthpress.com/the-...

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Ravi Zacharias On THE TRINITY

Ravi Zacharias explains the Trinity

Ravi Zacharias Q & A: The Contradiction of the Trinity and DesCartes

Ravi Zacharias answers questions from college students about the whether or not the concept of the Trinity is self-contradicting and what his views of Rene DesCartes are.

The meeting took place at Cornell University.

The audio can be downloaded from www.rzim.org under the "Let My People Think"

"Job: Confessing, 'My Redeemer Lives'"

Rev. Allen Brummel

Today we turn to Job 19:25, 26, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

In the preceding verses and chapters, Job began to plead with the three friends for pity. His natural strength has become more and more feeble, his voice became weaker and weaker. And a feeling of sorrow is apparent in his description of the suffering, in his pleading with his friends to be sympathetic. It is enough that Jehovah has touched him. Now these so-called friends continue to persecute him and to usurp to themselves a divine authority by which they act toward him as if they are God. They do not look upon him as an equal, but assume a false, elevated position. Job pleaded with them to be honest with him, to be fair with him.

Now Job expresses a higher hope and desire in which he finds his comfort. His comfort is not in the words of his friends, but in Jehovah his God. Jehovah God will avenge Job's blood against his accusers. For Jehovah has sent a Redeemer. And in that Redeemer is found Job's hope.

The three so-called friends have passed judgment upon Job. But Job now demonstrates in this passage that that judgment means nothing compared to the judgment of God. God has spoken His judgment. God will send His Son to take that judgment of sin upon Himself. Job, therefore, is confident as he stands before Jehovah that Jehovah is merciful-more merciful than his friends who have tried to console him.

He therefore directs us to the idea of a Mediator: "I know that my Redeemer liveth." A redeemer is one who mediates for another, one who takes upon himself the cause of another in order to help him. The mediator pays the price of redemption. Most commonly this was done with respect to slaves. When a slave found himself in bondage, the only possibility of his being freed was if another came and bought him, paid the price which he was worth to his master, and thereby gave him his freedom.

The word "mediator" suggests "bondage." It suggests an obligation which cannot be met. Job implies that he is in such a situation. He cannot meet the obligation which is necessary. He cannot pay the price which God demands. Unless there be another, a mediator, his cause is hopeless.

Job reveals here his knowledge of his own sin and debt and his knowledge of the righteous judgment of God. He knows that he deserves God's curse and condemnation. God has every reason to condemn him to eternal woe in hell because he is, by nature, depraved, unworthy of God's grace and mercy.

As Job speaks, he speaks as one who has already found that Mediator. He has found that One who is willing to stand up for him, that One who is willing to pay the ransom and deliver him. He has found the One because of whom he does not need to experience the punishment of hell. He has found the One who atones for sin, who delivers from bondage, the One who assures him of eternal blessedness in glory.

Job has found Christ. It is Christ alone who is the Savior, the perfect, eternal Redeemer. And Job here speaks prophetically of Christ as he saw Him by revelation, as the One who would yet come. But he speaks of Him with such confidence, as though that Redeemer had already come; as though that promise had already been realized; as though the Word had already become flesh.

With that conviction in his heart, he confesses, "My Redeemer lives!" Not merely a redeemer, but my Redeemer-the One who has come to deliver me from the bondage of my sin, my suffering, and my affliction, the One who stands in my place. My Redeemer has come.

And He lives. He has taken me into covenant fellowship with Himself. Jehovah dwelt in Job by His Spirit, renewing him, turning him from death into life. And Jehovah was continually turning Job away from sin into the service of the living God.

Oh, Job remained a sinner. He knew the depravity of his own heart. He was deeply conscious of the fact that by nature he could only sin and could only do that which was contrary to God's law.

But God had implanted in Job a love for God which was evident already at the moment when he was made childless. He arose and worshiped when he confessed, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb. Naked I return thither." Here was a servant of God, perfect and upright, one whom God had taken into covenant fellowship with Him. And within that covenant fellowship the servant of God expresses, "Who is my Judge?" The answer is: It is God, my covenant Friend. It is God, my intimate, personal companion. He is the One who judges. Before Him I stand. Not before these so-called friends.

Often we are wrongly accused. Instead of cursing or lashing out at our accusers we do well to recall this truth. Men may mock us. They may accuse us. They may judge us falsely as did these so-called friends of Job. But the Judge of heaven and earth is Jehovah, our covenant God, our Friend. These men will perish with us. Their judgment means nothing. But that which matters is the judgment of Jehovah. And Jehovah has seen fit to send a Redeemer.

Also, knowing that Jehovah is Judge, we do not act as hypocrites, as if it is enough merely to look good before men. Rather, we must humble ourselves before God. And the question which matters in our lives is: Will God accept me? Will God accept my lax attitude towards sin? Will God tolerate my leaving my family night after night to go out with the guys? Will God accept my secret enjoyment of pornography? Will God approve of the way I treat my neighbor? I can, perhaps, justify myself before men. Perhaps I can cover my sins in the eyes of my family and loved ones. But the fundamental question is: How am I living before God? He is the Judge of heaven and earth. He hates sin and hypocrisy. He will not allow the unrepentant sinner to have fellowship with Him in heaven. No adulterer, no drunkard, no thief, no unrepentant sinner will have any place in the kingdom of heaven. But the covenant friend of God finds his comfort in the fact that God will receive him as a repentant sinner, as one who hates sin, though he finds himself repeatedly falling into it, as one who knows the joy of forgiveness and who pleads with God for that joy.

Then we are able to have the comfort that the Almighty, unchangeable Jehovah keeps His covenant with His people forever. He rules over all things, He holds all things in His hands. My remaining faithful to Him is His own work in and through me. Therefore, my confidence is not to be found in my own abilities, in my own obedience, but in that covenant promise which Jehovah has given me: I will be your God; you will be My people.

Jehovah will stand as Judge in the last day. He will stand upright upon the earth. All men will be as the dust of the earth. If they are not lying dead, they will be cast down because of His majesty. He will restore all of the bodies of men, casting the wicked into everlasting destruction and ushering the righteous into eternal bliss. On that last day, when He stands as Judge, He will be more merciful than any man. His love is eternal. His grace and mercy will cover all of His own. Those whom He has chosen He will redeem by the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ-the One who came into our flesh, who suffered, died, was buried; the One who rose again on the third day as the Victor over death; the One who paid the price of ransom. That One is our Redeemer.

Job, by faith, was able to lay hold upon this precious truth knowing that indeed Jehovah had sent him a Redeemer.

If Job was able to lay hold upon this truth, how much more ought you and I, since the cross and the resurrection have become a historical reality. By faith we see Jesus Christ exalted in the highest heavens. The books of the Bible testify to that reality. By faith we know that our Redeemer, our Savior, lives. He lives even now in our hearts by the power of His Spirit. By faith, therefore, our concern is not merely, How am I living before men? But, How am I living before God, my righteous Judge? And we keep our eye of faith fixed upon Him, that we might find ourselves approved by Him.

The only possibility of making this confession, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," is by faith. Faith knows the Word of God and knows Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners. That gift of faith is given by God to His people, according to Ephesians 2:9. That faith is the ability to know God and to trust in Him as one's Savior.

The confidence of faith is always personal. I cannot know Jesus Christ as Savior without knowing that He is my personal Savior. No one can believe in God and in Jesus Christ without putting all of his confidence and trust in God. One who confesses that God is God also confesses that God is his God, He is his Lord, He is his Redeemer.

This confidence is frequently tested in our lives. The believer is faced with many trials from day to day. The Lord is purging us even as silver is purified by fire. This purification is difficult. It is painful. There are many temptations that face us: pressures to give in to evil, sufferings which we must bear, sufferings within our marriages when we fail to live as a godly husband or wife, suffering with respect to our children when they fail to live for Christ and when they seek their own selfish pleasure, suffering when it seems as though the wicked are prospering and we are experiencing disappointments, adversities, pains, distresses. In the face of all of the temptations and trials there are times when we, like Job, are inclined to give up, to throw up our arms in despair. Why, if God loves us, must we suffer like this? His hand seems so heavy on us. There seems at times to be no relief. With the psalmist, we are inclined to ask, Will God cast me off? Has His mercy gone from me? Has He forgotten to be gracious?

In the midst of these trials and temptations, the triumph of faith is: I know that my Redeemer liveth and that I shall see Him. I know this because this is the testimony of the Word, of the revelation of God to me in His Word. He has made known to me His great love for me. He has made known His pardoning grace and saving mercies for all those who are in Jesus Christ. He has promised victory and a glorious inheritance for all His saints.

How do I know that this is all for me? The Holy Spirit assures me in my heart that all of these benefits are for me. By the power of the Spirit I am convicted of sin. By the power of the Spirit I am made weary, but I am also assured of rest. By the power of the Spirit I am cast down in agony of soul, but I am also lifted up, delivered. By the power of the Spirit I am made hungry, but I am also fed. I am made thirsty, but I am given to drink of the streams of living water. And by the power of the Spirit I am able to cry out, "Abba, Father." The One whom I love, the One who has redeemed-He, indeed, is the One in whom I put my trust.

And this trust in God is not a trust that is conditioned upon earthly blessing. We do not believe in God because He feeds and fills our bellies. Our faith rises above all that we see in this world. We believe in God since He has already given us to taste His goodness and His power. He cares for us now, even though our bodies are corruptible. How much more will He not care for us when our bodies are spiritual?

Our confidence is not based merely upon the things that we see around us. Such was the temptation of the three friends-"Job, if you do not have any possessions, if you do not have any food, if you experience suffering, then God does not love you."

But Job was able to see through that false conception of God's love. Job was able to make his confession by a true and living faith which God had implanted in his heart. And in that faith he was able to be comforted. "In my flesh shall I see God."

How are we to understand that statement of Job? I Corinthians 15:50 makes clear that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And the flesh which Job here mentions is the same as the flesh and blood in I Corinthians 15:50. The Scriptures make clear that our present, corruptible bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We must have new, spiritual bodies in order to enjoy the blessings of heaven. How is it possible, then, that Job can say here that he will see God "in his flesh," that is, in his earthly, corruptible, natural body?

The explanation can be derived, I believe, from a little better translation of the Hebrew. A better translation here would be: From my flesh shall I see God. The idea is, literally, outside of, or separate from, my flesh shall I see God. Job is stating here his confidence in a spiritual, raised body, apart from his current physical body. His current body is decaying. Huge sores are causing him tremendous pain and affliction. This body, he knows, will die. It will go to the grave. It will be eaten by worms. But Job's confidence is not in this body. His confidence is outside of this body, so that when this present flesh has been stripped away, when it has been put off, when worms have eaten it up, then, he will see God. Not in this present, corrupted, earthly body, but he will see God in a new body, a body which will be raised and spiritual.

The confidence of Job is outside, apart from, this present physical body. Then God will give me the ability to see Him. He will give me new eyes, a new spiritual body by which I will be able to lay hold upon and behold God.

My flesh informs me that death is imminent. My flesh informs me that I will die. I experience the struggles and difficulties of my flesh. But yet I will see God. My soul will be safe and secure in God's protection. And God will give me a new body, a body far different from this present earthly body. And Christ will make me strong.

My body may be so weak, but I will be made strong. Such is the confidence here of Job, expressing the truth of II Corinthians 5:1 that his body is but a temporary house, a hut which will pass away. When that exterior is removed from us, we have a building which is prepared, much better, more excellent: an eternal home.

There is no way to comfort us more in our afflictions. When our need gets greater and greater, when our backaches become more frequent, when sleep becomes far more difficult to attain, when our heart begins to give out, when it seems as though doctors can do very little or nothing to alleviate our pain or discomfort, then our confidence is: "When this body will be destroyed, I will see God. I will see God, then, not merely by faith, but directly, through Jesus Christ, with my new, spiritual, raised body." This victory song must echo in our homes, in our lives: This is the power by which we can face adversities and trials. Jehovah is our Judge. His judgment is perfect. And that judgment is gracious because our Redeemer lives.

Then the truth of Romans 8 will echo in our hearts: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor thing present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the wondrous comfort which faith is able to proclaim. And we thank Thee for the victory which is ours in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Preserve and keep us in the midst of our trials, give us the confidence with Job that our Redeemer lives, and grant that our hope might be put in Him alone. Amen.

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Jesus Christ, God and Man: How Can a Man Be God?

Reformed theology has consistently affirmed both the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus. Traditionally, this has been called the doctrine of the hypostatic union, a doctrine that expresses the perfect union between Jesus' divine and human natures in his one person In this union, the second person of the Trinity (see theological article "The Trinity: One God or Three?"), namely, God the Son, became fully human (see theological article "The Full Humanity of Jesus: What Kind of Man Was Jesus?t") without losing any of his divine attributes.

That the Jewish followers of Jesus believed that Jesus was both God and man is amazing. Jesus' apostles and most of the New Testament writers were Jews who strongly believed that there is only one God and that no human is divine. Nevertheless, they all taught that Jesus the Messiah should be worshiped and trusted as God. This idea is especially observable in the writings of John, Paul, Peter and the author of Hebrews.

John reveals Jesus as the eternal divine Word, agent of creation and source of all life and light (John 1:1-5,9), who, in becoming "flesh," was revealed as the Son of God, the source of grace and truth-and, indeed, as "God the One and Only" (John 1:14,18). John's Gospel is punctuated with Jesus' "I am" statements-these are especially significant because "I am" (see notes on John 8:24,28,58) was used to render God's name in the Greek translation (Septuagint) of Exodus 3:14. Examples also appear in the seven declarations of Jesus' grace as (1) the bread of life, giving spiritual food (John 6:35, 48, 51); (2) the light of the world, banishing darkness (John 8:12; 9:5); (3) the gate for the sheep, giving access to God (John 10:7,9); (4) the good shepherd, protecting from peril (John 10:11,14); (5) the resurrection and life, overcoming our death (John 11:25); (6) the way, truth and life, guiding to fellowship with the Father (John 14:6); and (7) the true vine, nurturing for fruitfulness (John 15:1,5). Climactically, Thomas worships Jesus, saying, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Jesus then pronounces a blessing on all who share Thomas' faith, and John urges his readers to join their number (John 20:29-31).

Paul quotes from an apparent hymn that declares Jesus' personal deity (Phil. 2:6-11). He states that "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9; cf. Col. 1:19). He hails Jesus as the Son as the Father's image and as his agent in creating and upholding everything (Col. 1:15-17). He declares him to be "Lord" (a title with divine overtones), to whom one must pray for salvation according to the exhortation to call on God in Joel 2:32 (Rom. 10:9-13). He calls him "God over all" (Rom. 9:5) and "God and Savior" (Tit. 2:13), and he prays to him personally (2 Cor. 12:8-9), looking to him as a source of divine grace (2 Cor. 13:14). The testimony is explicit: Faith in Jesus' deity is central to Paul's theology.

In explaining Christ's perfect high priesthood, the author of Hebrews declares the full deity and resulting unique dignity of the Son of God (Heb. 1:3,6,8-12), whose full humanity he then celebrates in chapter 2. The perfection, and indeed the very possibility, of the high priesthood he ascribes to Christ depends on an endless, unfailing divine life in combination with a full human experience of temptation, pressure and pain (Heb. 2:14-18; 4:14-5:2; 7:13-28; 12:2-3).

No less significant is Peter's use of Isaiah 8:12-13 (1 Pet. 3:14). He cites the Greek (Septuagint) version, urging the churches not to fear what others fear, but to set apart the Lord as holy. But where the Septuagint text of Isaiah says "Set apart the Lord himself," Peter writes, "Set apart Christ as Lord" (1 Pet. 3:15). Peter offered the adoring fear due to the Almighty to Jesus of Nazareth, his Master and Lord.

A crucial time for the church's affirmation of the hypostatic union came at the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451). At that time, the church countered two errors: (1) the Nestorian idea that Jesus had two "persons" (divine and human), as well as two natures, as if he were two people bound together in one body; and (2) the Eutychian idea that Jesus had only one nature, his divinity having absorbed his humanity. Rejecting both, the Council affirmed that Jesus is one divine-human person with two natures (i.e., two sets of capacities for experience, expression, reaction and action) and that the two natures are united in his personal being without mixture, confusion, separation or division, such that each nature retains its own attributes.

The New Testament reveals the great mystery that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. All that God made us to be, as well as all that is in God himself, was, is and forever will be really and distinguishably present in the one person of Jesus. The New Testament commands the worship of Jesus and focuses consistently on the divine-human Savior and Lord as the proper object of faith, hope and love.

Reference:

Richard Pratt, General Editor. Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2003.

Soure: http://reformedanswers.org

Jesus Christ: The Interpretive Key to the Scripture

Jesus Christ: The Interpretive Key to the Scripture
With Four Examples of Doctrinal Errors that Arise When this Key is not Used.

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." (John 5:39, 40)

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" - (1 Tim 2:5)

"The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth." - John Calvin

I have recently had the privilege of reading a phenomenal book that I highly recommend to all teachers of the Word. That book was Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics by Graeme Goldsworthy. Its thesis is simple: the Gospel (or, Jesus Christ) is the Key to all Christian Hermeneutics. During the course of reading, his focus got me to thinking about its antithesis which would be that almost all errors and inconsistencies in our understanding of Bible texts occur when our interpretation is less than Christ-centered. This is foundational. Unless our study, however diligent, leads us to see that all Scripture points to Jesus Christ, our study is in vain. The importance of the Bible (OT & NT) is that it testifies about Jesus Christ (John 1:43-45, Acts 3:18, Acts 17:2-3, 2 Tim 3:14-15,1 Pet 1:10-12, Rom 1:1-3, 16:25-27, Luke 24:25-27 & 44-46).

Jesus never condemned a Pharisee for taking Moses too seriously. They take him far less seriously than they should. For Jesus says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He write of Me. But if you don't believe His writings, how will you believe My words. Your accuser is Moses." (John 5:46). So to understand Moses is to come to know Christ when He is revealed. Likewise, Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad, the Bible testifies. And "...foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU." (Gal)

But now, let's shift gears by getting specific about doctrinal errors that fail to take into account the above biblical principles ... These are produced by an interpretitive grid or presupposition that arises from Christless or less-than-Christocentric views of Scripture. In the following, I wish to give 3-4 examples of current popular, but erroneous, interpretations, that err simply because they fail to see the centrality of Jesus Christ in their understanding:

1) The False Assertion that Salvation can be Lost

The claim by some that a Christian can actually lose his or her salvation is a prime example of reading Christ out of the text, because the focus becomes your own moral ability rather than Christ. Some erroneously believe that a Christian, after being saved by Christ, can make certain choices that will lead to the loss of their adoption and justification, and thus, their salvation in Christ. In other words, they must, by their own effort, or with the Spirit's help, maintain their just standing before God. With such a view, Christ is not sufficient to save completely. Such a doctrine should immediately make us think of Paul's warning in Galatians: "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3) But why is Paul so stern as to call them foolish? Because they have forgotten that Christ and Christ alone has saved them. To think that we can add to Christ's perfect work is to utterly misapprehend the Gospel at its core. For, we ask, is it Jesus or something else which is sufficient to carry you to the end? Any addition to Jesus Christ is to believe that justification is found in something else has forgotten about the centrality of Christ.

So we ask in relation to this doctrine, is it Christ who saves us, or does He merely assist us so we may save ourselves? The warning passages in Hebrews actually warn against this very error. They start by pointing out that Jesus is superior to the angels, to Moses and to the Sacrificial System. The warnings of falling away are actually warnings about going back to something inferior to Christ, like the sacrificial system which only pointed to Christ. To read that a particular sin can make us lose our salvation, is thus, to utterly forget what the context of the Text in Hebrews itself is. So the assertion that a Christian can lose salvation is the first error that we have spotted that arises because Christ was seen as the ultimate interpretive presupposition, and thus, left out of the interpretation. Some other ultimate presupposition guided our exposition.

2) Synergism

Synergism is the error that affirms that the natural man can cooperate with God in the regeneration process (the new birth) ...that an unregenerate person has the moral capacity to embrace the Gospel apart from the work of the Spirit changing the heart.

Again, remember what our interpretive Key to the Bible is? Jesus Christ. So, in relation to regeneration and conversion, when the gospel is preached, what makes people to differ in their response to it? Does Jesus Christ make us differ or does something else? This “something else” may take various forms; it may be something native to the human constitution (i.e. Pelagianism) or something alien yet universal (i.e. Arminianism)? In either case, the point is that it is not Christ that makes the difference. Anyone who claims that the difference arises from one of these something-else’s has failed to see first our hopelessness as fallen creatures apart from Christ and second the exclusive sufficiency of Christ’s saving work. If I am different than my neighbor because of something other than Jesus Christ, then Christ, whatever role he may play, cannot be central to my understanding of salvation. He is only partly responsible for it. It is the grace we have in Christ that saves, and nothing in addition to it.

3) Four-Point Calvinism

Four-point Calvinism fails the test of Christ-centered interpretation because this view tends to see the TULIP as an abstraction. But the TULIP only works when we see Christ at its center. Consider the TULIP as a chiasm with the "L" at the top of the pyramid. It is Jesus Christ which makes sense of all the doctrines of grace. Four-point Calvinists who reject Limited Atonement but embrace irresistible grace must consider this: Irresistible grace is not some abstract doctrine but must be seen in relation to Jesus Christ, specially in relation to the grace purchased by Christ upon the cross. The Spirit of Christ illuminates, regenerates and effectually brings to faith his elect. And this enabling, effectual grace is, from first to last, Christ-centered. It does not come out of a void, nor from some hidden source of grace in God the Father. Therefore Christ must have died for the elect so as to purchase that grace in a way – a redemptive way – that he did not die for the non-elect. That is why we often call it particular redemption. Irresistible grace is one of the redemptive benefits purchased by Jesus Christ ... and it was never granted to the non-elect nor intended for them. I believe that until Jesus Christ is seen as central to the TULIP then four-pointers will continue to reject what is plain.

4) Purgatory

Roman Catholics believe in Purgatory, which again accents their belief that Christ is not sufficient to save completely. Rather then, we must work off our sins after death for 1000's of years until it is paid. Where is Christ in all this? Was His work insufficient to cover their sins completely and once for all?

Each of these errors occurs when the our hermeneutic - our ultimate presupposition - is not Jesus Christ.

J.W. Hendryx

Munus Triplex - The Triple Cure - Christ as Prophet, Priest and King

In the Old Testament, a person could be a prophet, a priest or a King, but it was impossible to be all three. Yet Scripture attributes all three of these offices to Christ. To discover what He does for us as He fulfills these three differing roles is a wonderfully enriching biblical study.

Christ holds these offices eternally. As the ultimate revelation of the Prophet, He speaks the word of God to us; as Priest, He represents us fully to the Father and brings the supreme atoning sacrifice (of Himself) that placates the Father's holy and just wrath against us for our sin; and as the conquering and reigning King, He is forever worthy of our worship and adoration. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Christ's threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King is a central teaching in Reformed Theology, but it is a much neglected theme in much of the modern day Church. The Latin theological term for this is Munus Triplex, also known as "the Triple Cure," referring to these offices of Christ providing the remedy for us in our fallen condition.

As far as we can tell, it was Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (1.3.8) who first described the concept of these three fold offices of Christ. He said that Jesus is “the only high priest of all, and the only king of every creature, and the Father’s only supreme prophet of prophets." Yet as with most things, it was John Calvin who made the concept widely known by his teaching in the Institutes:

"Therefore, in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ, and thus rest in him, this principle must be laid down: the office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists of three parts. For he was given to be prophet, king and priest." - Institutes II. xv. 1

This concept was then taken up by others in the Reformation, including Herman Bavinck, as seen in this quote:

"…Christ, both as the Son and as the image of God, for Himself and also as our Mediator and Saviour, had to bear all three offices. He had to be a prophet to know and to disclose the truth of God; a priest, to devote Himself to God and, in our place, to offer Himself up to God; a king, to govern and protect us according to God’s will. To teach, to reconcile, and to lead; to instruct, to acquire and to apply salvation; wisdom, righteousness, and redemption; truth, love, and power – all three are essential to the completeness of our salvation. In Christ’s God-to-humanity relation, He is a prophet; in His humanity-to-God relation He is a priest; in His headship over all humanity He is a king. Rationalism acknowledges only His prophetic office; mysticism only His priestly office; millennialism only His royal office. But Scripture, consistently and simultaneously attributing all three offices to Him, describes Him as our chief prophet, our only [High] priest, and our eternal king. Though a king, He rules not by the sword but by His Word and Spirit. He is a prophet, but His word is power and really happens. He is a priest but lives by dying, conquers by suffering, and is all-powerful by His love. He is always all these things in conjunction, never the one without the other: mighty in speech and action as a king and full of grace and truth in His royal rule."

The Westminster Shorter Catechism: refers to it in questions 23-26:

Q. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?

A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet (Deut 18:18, Heb 1:1-2), of a priest (Heb 4:14-15, Heb 5:5-6),and of a king (Is 9:6-7, Lk 1:32-33, John 18:37, 1 Cor 15:25), both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word (Heb 2:3) and Spirit (1 Peter 1:11), the will of God for our salvation.

Q. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Acts 8:32-35), and reconcile us to God (Col 1:21-22), and in making continual intercession for us (Heb 9:24).

Q. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us (Col 1:13), and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies (Col 2:15).

Here is Dr. Kim Riddlebarger teaching on the three fold offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest and King: